Pump.



G. C. RICHARDS.

PUMP.

APPLICATION FILED 114112.23, 1912. 1,051,260, Patented .131121, 1913.

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77 79 n avwmtoz 2f (21907596 'zeai Wmme@ GEORGE C. RICHARDS, OFBERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

PUMP.

roamed Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedJ an. 21, 1913.

Application lled March 23, 1912. Serial No. 685,737.

T0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE C. RICHARDS, acitizen of the United States, residing at Berkeley, in the county ofAlameda and State of California, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Pumps, of which the following is a specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in pumps and has for its objectto provide one or more spiral elevating blades arranged upon a rotaryshaft mounted in the well casing, said blades being of such constructionthat the friction induced upon the walls `of the casing in the upwardmovement of the water is reduced to a minimum, thus materially lesseningthe amount of power required to operate the pump.

Another object df the invent-ion is'tg provide improved means formounting the operating shaft in the well casing including a terminalbearing and one or more intermediate bearings together with a clutchdevice arranged on the shaft to grip the walls of the ,well casing andconcentrically position the shaft therein, said supporting andposit-ioning devices being so mounted and arranged upon the shaftthatthe same may be entirely removed from the casing upon the removal ofthe operating shaft.

A further object of the invention is to provide a terminal bearing forthe operating shaft of novel construction whereby the liability of sand,gravel and other extraneous material finding its way into the bearingseat is practically eliminated.

A still further obj ect of the invention resides in the provision of anoperating shaft and a plurality of spaced elevating blades thereon, andbearings to position the shaft in the well casing arranged between theelevating blades, said bearings also acting to break up or divide thewater and prevent its continued whirling motion so that it is morereadily received and elevated by the upper spiral blade.

Another object of the invention is to provide a. pump of the abovecharacter which is particularly designed foruse in shallow wells andembodies in its construction many novel features which greatly increaseits etticiency and convenience in practical use, while at the same timethe entire device cost.

'be embedded in the hard rock at the With the above and other objects inview, the invention consists of the novel features of construction,combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described andclaimed, `and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure1 is an elevation of a pump emf bodying the present invention, the wellcasing being shown in section; Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section ofone of the elevating blades, the clutch device and the terminal bearingfor the lower end of the operating shaft; Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailsection of one of the intermediate bearings; Fig. 4 is a section takenon the line 1w-4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 ofFig. 2; and Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 6*.,6 of F ig. 2.

Referring in detail to the drawings 5 designates the tubular wellcasing, the upper end of which extends above the ground surface and isprovided with a cap 6. The surface of this cap is provided .with araceway 7 to receive the ball bearings 8 which are disposed between thecap and a collar 9 fixed upon theoperating shaft 10 which isconcentrically disposedwithin the well casing and held in position bymeans to be later described in detail. To the upper end of the wellcasing 5 the fluid conducting pipe 11 is connected and is adapted toreceive and convey the 'water discharged from the casing to a distantpoint where the same is to be utilized. To the upper end of theoperating shaft 10 a beveled gear 12 is secured and a smaller gear 13meshes with the gear 12, said latter gear being fixed upon the end of apower shaft 14 extending from an en'- gine or other suitable source ofpower supply.

In the lower end of the well casing 5 a sleeve 15 is threaded and thissleeve is provided with an inwardlyl extending annular flange 17 whichforms a seat for the bearing block or base 18, said block being providedwith radially disposed lugs 19 to be received in the longitudinalgrooves 20 formed in the inner peripheral wall of the sleeve 15. Thisbearing block is further' provided with a plurality of depending spursor tongues 21 which are ada ted to ottom of the well. The block 18 isprovided with a reduced threaded boss 18 which receives one end of abonnet 22,- thebther end of said bonnet being tapered or reduced indiameter and provided with an opening through which the lower end of theoperating shaft 10 extends. Suitable packing material indicated at 23 isarranged within the bonnet 22 and the lower end of the shaft is reducedin diameter as at 24 to provide an annular groove forming a shoulder onthe shaft. In this groove the packing material 23 is received whereby itwill be readily seen that when the operating shaft is lifted, thebearing block or base 18 will also vbe lifted from the supporting flange17 on the sleeve 15 so that said bearing is extracted with the shaftfrom the well casing.

Upon the operating shaft 10, two or more spiral elevating blades 25 aresecured, said blades being provided with central sleeve portions 26integrally connecting the several turns thereof, said sleeves receivingthe operating shaft. These spiral blades are arranged in spaced relationupon the shaft as clearly shown in Fig. l and the same are preferably ofconcavo-convex form as clearly shown in Fig, 2, the concave surfaces ofthe blades being upwardly disposed. The extreme edges of the spiralblades which are disposed adjacent to the well casing are bent slightlyinwardly as at 27 and act to direct the water inwardly and upwardlyinstead of outwardly against the walls of the casing. In this manner Iaim to reduce to a minimum friction upon the walls of the well casing inthe upward movement of the water caused b v the rotation of said spiralblades.

In order to maintain the operating shaft 10 in its central concentricposition within the well casing, I provide upon said shaft between thelower'terminalbearing and the lowermost spiral blade 25 a clutch devicewhich consists of a tubular sleeve o-r body 28 to receive the shaft uponwhich a plurality of radially disposed plates 29'are formed or rigidlysecured. Upon each of these plates a cam member 30 is pivotally mounted,said members having toothed or serrated surfaces as indicated at 3l toexert a gripping action upon the inner wall of the well casing. Thesecam members are formed witlrarlns or levers 32 to which the ends ofstrings or cords (not shown) are adapted to be connected. Collars 33 arefixed to the shaft at opposite ends of the sleeve 28 to hold said sleeveagainst longitudinal movement thereon. When the operating shaft isinserted into the well casing, the cam members-30 are held out ofgripping engagement with the walls thereof by pulling upon the stringsconnected there-- to as above mentioned. When the bearing on the lowerendof the operating shaft is seated upon the flange of the sleeve 15,the strings are broken to release the cam members whereupon the samemove outwardly into gripping engagement with the walls of the casing 5.This clutch device serves as an additional means of support for theshaft 10, the primary supporting means being embodied in thebearing atthe upper end of the well casing.

In order to overcome all liability of contactbetween the edges of thespiral blades 25 and the well casing, I provide at intermediate pointsupon the operating shaft the additional positioning devices indicatedgenerally by the numeral 33. Each of these devices consists of a tubularbody 34 loosely engaged at its end with the operating shaft, said bodybeing provided at its upper and lower ends with tapered or conical caps35 which serve as deflectors to prevent sand entering between the shaftand the/ends of the body 34. Collars or washers 36 are also fixed uponthe operating shaft at the upper and lower ends of said body to preventits longitudinal movement.. A plurality of radiallyextending arms 37 arearranged upon the body 34 and are longitudinally bored as shown at 38.These tubular outer ends of the arms are provided with plates 39disposed in parallel relation to the operating shaft, said plates havinginwardly extending flanges 40 on their longitudinal edges. The upper andlower end edges of the plates 39 are notched or recessed as at 41 toreceive the inwardly disposed end portions 42 of the spring plates 42.39 carry pins 43 which are disposed in the bores 38 of the arms 37. Theextreme ends ot' the plates 42 are preferably provided with lugs 42a sothat the same will retain their positions upon the plates 39 when theshaft and its bearings or supports are removed from the casing 5. Thesespring plates 42 are sufficiently strong to prevent lateral movement orvibration of the operating shaft in the well casing so that the edges ofthe spiral blades 25 are at all times maintained out of contact with thewell casmg.

By means of the above arrangement of shaft supporting and positioningdevices, it will be readily seen that when the shaft is lifted andremoved from the well easing, both the terminal bearing at the lower endthereof, the intermediate supports or bearings 33 and the clutch deviceat the lower end of the shaft are also removed bodily from the wellcasing. It is readily apple ciated that such assemblage of the variousparts which permits of their simultaneous removal will be of greatconvenience in practical use as it admits of the quick and thoroughcleaning of all portions of the invention. The intermediate bearingmembers for the shafts havinvr the arms 37 and plates 39 act to break upthe whirling stream Vof water as it is passed from the lower to theupper spiral elevating blades 25 so that it more readily enters thelower end of the upper elevating spiral.

The plates e While the pump embodied in the forego-y ing description isprimarily designed for use in shallow wells, it will be understood bythose familiar with the art that many of the foregoing featuresmay-,also be embodied in deep well pumps either for oil or water. lt

lwill also be understood that in vputting theV invention into practice,l do rnot desire to be limited to the precise number of spiral vblades25 shown in the drawing, as they may beimultiplied as desired orfoundnecessary in-vaccordance with the conditions or use. Owing tothefew parts employed and their simple construction, it will be seen thatthe same combine to produce a pump-which is extremely durable andefficient in practical operation, and may be manufactured atcomparatively small cost.,

While I have shown anddescribedthe preferred construction andarrangement of the various elements, it will be obvious that utheinvention is susceptible of considerable modication without departingfrom the essential feature or sacrificing any of the adv vant-agesthereof.

` Having thus described the invention what is claimed is L 1, ln a pump,the combination with a well casing, of duid elevating means arrangedtherein including an operating shaft, a Sleeve threaded into the lowerend of said casingand havin an inwardly projpcting 4annular flange anlongitudinal slots 1n the inner walls of the sleeve, and a terminalbearmg for the lower end of said shaftconvnected to the shaft forremoval therewith "from the well casing, said bearing being providedwith lugs to be received in the slots of said sleeve'and adapted to restupon the dange thereof..

' In. a pump, the combination with a well casing, of Huid 'elevatingmeans arranged in said casing including an Voperating shaft,- a terminalbearing vfor the lowerend of said shaft provided with lugs, means forremovably connecting the bearing to the shaft but permitting of therotation of said shaft, and' means arranged in the wellcasing forengagement by the lugs on said bearing lto hold the bearing againstrotation.

3. In a pump, the combination witha well casinygwpf, duid elevatingmeans arranged therein including an operating shaft, and a lconcavo-convex spiral blade arranged V0n said shaft and spaced at itsedges from the wall of the .well casing, the edges of said blade beinginwardly and upwardly curved .to direct the fluid away from the walls ofthe well casing.

4. In' a pump, the combination with a well casing, of Huid elevatingmeans arranged Atherein including an operating shaft, a plurality ofspaced spiral blades arranged on said shaft, a plurality of radiallydisposed arms on the shaft between said spaced blades, plates mountedupon the ends of said arms and radially movable with respect to theshaft, and yieldable means mounted upon said plates to frictionallyengage the wall of the well casing to' maintain the edges of the spiralblades in spaced relation thereto.

5. Ina ump,the combination with a well casin o fluid elevating meansarranged thereln including an operating shaft, spaced spiral bladesarranged on said shaft, a plurality of radially disposed tubular armsmounted upon the shaft between said spaced blades, and means movablymounted in said tubular arms including yieldable elements tofrictionally engage the wall of the well casf ing and maintain the edgesof the spiral ledges of the spiral blades 1n spaced relation' thereto.

in testimony whereof l". hereunto aiiix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

GEORGE C. RICHARDS. Witnesses:

Unas. A, RICE, HOWARD J. PEmsoL.-

